Before I got published, I vowed to never to succumb to firstbook-titis. If you're not careful, what can happen is that the first time you get published you come under the delusion that you've got this writing thing figured out. After all, you've graduated from wanna-be writer to Published Author! You've now got cred.

The symptoms of firstbook-itis include:

A desire to share your writerly wisdom with the rest of creation whether they ask for it or not.

The need to critique every line of prose that comes your way.

You got the inside angle on the "rules" so you're now obligated to let everyone know where their work falls short.

I'm sure many of you have been burdened with putting up with the self-important pronouncements of a firstbook-itis sufferer.

Fortunately, I'm way past the firstbook-itis syndrome. The more I write and the more I'm exposed to the publishing biz the less convinced I know much with any certainty. I can read something and tell if it meets an acceptable level of competence. Beyond that, the best I can do is shrug. I've read plenty of manuscripts that didn't jazz me and they went on to garner the attention and money I'm craving. So what did I miss?

So when the firstbook-itis sufferer attempts to browbeat you with their inflated opinion, smile with the knowledge that sooner or later, they'll get a publishing smackdown that should purge their egos.

I'm not confident enough to have ever had firstbook-itis, but I used to know someone who did. Well, 2 someones now that I think of it.

I learn new things all the time and know better than to think I have all the answers. I know a number of unpublished authors who are better writers than me and I make it a point to seek out their advice.

The two firstbook-itis sufferers I know never got a 2nd book published. That says something.